Magical Girl with Demonic Time Magic-Chapter 129: Lies

"What are you doing, Setsuna?" I ask as Setsuna pulls me along the street leading to the Magical Girls’ base, which is strange because we still have one day of vacation left.

"I came to the base last night... and everyone is dead," she says out of nowhere, leaving me confused.

"How... what do you mean?"

"The magical girls, Ayane. They’re all dead..." When she says that, I quickly start running down the street, trying to get to the base, but as soon as I turn the corner, I notice the front and the entire area is destroyed and cordoned off, with police all around.

"..." I try to go, but Setsuna grabs my shoulder and shakes her head.

"Ophelia was apparently very important politically, and this building, to humans, was an important ’company’ building—a fancy one. So, the deaths and chaos there could splash back on us if we try to go," she says somewhat coldly.

"B-But how!?! How!!! There were dozens of magical girls!! It doesn’t make sense!" I say in disbelief. I’m not stupid enough to not be able to put two and two together and understand that this shouldn’t be possible.

"I know... I don’t even know how they exactly did that... it’s surprising," she calls this absurdity "surprising." I look at her with a glare.

"I didn’t mean it as a compliment... I just meant it’s... well... I don’t know what words to use for this..." She tries to apologize but only makes it worse as I stare at the building.

"D-Did all of them die?" I ask hesitantly.

"..."

"I don’t know, I’m not sure... There must be someone alive, right? After all, there were quite a few... although all the magical girls in the world only number about two hundred... so I have no way of knowing..." she says realistically.

"...But... what is that?" I see some people who are police officers being carried out on stretchers.

"...?" Setsuna looks and quickly grabs my hand.

"Probably policemen who got hurt seeing the painting," she says as if she knows.

"Painting? What are you talking about?" I ask, confused, as she pulls me away.

"Ayane, I brought you here to warn you about this, but I didn’t know the police were already at the building. It seems that since all the magical girls died, the building lost the magic that hid what it really was."

"The thing is, there’s a painting in the building... a dangerous painting that hurts people who see it, or something like that. I didn’t really understand what it does," she says as I start to possibly attribute everyone’s deaths to this painting.

"Is it monster magic!?" I ask quickly.

"...Yes... yes, it’s something made by a terrible monster that lived disguised as a human... We can do something special to honor them later," she says as I grow angry at the monsters.

"Ayane, you seem much stronger..." she asks as I agree.

"Yes! I can even hide my wings now! But that doesn’t matter right now! We have to... do something! It’s not fair for all those good girls to die..." I say with sorrow.

"...Yes, we have to do something... Ayane, before anything else, I brought you here to help me..." She quickly pulls me into an alley and then jumps up onto the rooftop, taking me with her.

"...?"

"Ayane... things have been a bit messy lately... but I’m trying my best to make everything better and I promised to be honest with you... and there’s a question I’ll ask now, and it’s part of the truth I’ll reveal to you in the future." This makes me nervous.

"G-Go on..."

"Ayane, if someone you know and love... became a horrible, evil being, a monster... and you had enough power to do it... would you kill that person? Or... would you hesitate to do it and do nothing?" She asks a question I’ve never thought about.

"I... would fight that person, and if I could save them, I would... but if they turned into a monster... I would do whatever it takes to save everyone..." I say firmly.

"Even if that person is very important to you? Even if that person pretends they are still good?"

"Yes... I think that... for her, it’s better to stop her rather than let her do something bad that will destroy who she used to be in the past..." When I say this, she gives me a broken smile.

"I see... so if that person became a monster that puts thousands at risk... and you couldn’t save her, you would kill her?" She asks a very invasive and difficult question.

"Y-Y-Yes..." I say, feeling tense about it, but from Setsuna’s description, that person is already beyond saving.

"..."

"Then, Ayane, I’ll trust you... I’ll trust that you will stop this monster," she says, leaving me very confused about everything as she kisses my forehead and gives me the first sweet smile I’ve seen in several days.

"Ayane, I have a strange and complex request along with... a warning..." She says, pulling me into a hug; I hug her back as she starts to speak.

"I’m dying..." When she starts by saying that, I immediately try to pull away to understand, but she holds me tightly.

"Ayane, just listen... please... I’m dying and... that’s the reason I’ve been acting strange these past few days... but I guess there’s no use hiding it anymore, right? If I’m going to die, it’s better to tell you."

"Since I’m going to die, I have one last wish... a wish that depends entirely on you, but I won’t force you... would you do it for me?" she asks as I start to cry.

"...’

"Y-Yes..." I just say that, breathing with difficulty. She notices and hugs me tighter, yet tenderly, knowing this news shakes me.

"I don’t want you to feel obligated... it’s a complex request... a wish I have... and it’s the last request I’ll ever make of you..." She says while stroking my back, preparing to speak as she gives me some space.

"W-What... d-do you..." I ask, not believing that she is dying. It seems unbelievable, but it makes sense considering her exhaustion these past few days, and that makes me feel stupid.

Why didn’t I notice, when it was so obvious? The exhaustion, her hiding things, and me watching her slowly waste away.

"I want... to give you my first time..." When she says that, I try to speak, but nothing comes out because this request is something I never expected.

"...You don’t have to answer now... I’ll give you time to think... I know it’s kind of invasive and intimate to ask for this... but it’s the last thing I want..." She lets me go.

"..." She gives me a sad look as we stand in an awkward silence, until I fully comprehend the request. I try to speak, but she puts a finger on my lips.

"No... not now... I know things are complicated... First, I brought you here and told you about the magical girls, now I said I’m dying and made a request... it’s a lot to process... Let’s talk about this later... I just... want to rest now..." She speaks in a tired tone.

I finally notice how she looks even more exhausted than before; her fatigue has clearly worsened.

"...Let’s go home... Let’s have a normal day while you can think about everything that happened before... and... I’m sorry for putting you in this difficult situation," she says as I manage a smile.

"It’s okay... I’m getting used to it..."